


Sharing is Caring

by daisydashwood



Category: Captain America (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bucky being a helpful bro, Fix-It, Fluff, Getting Together, Light Angst, Literally all the fluff, M/M, Multi, Natasha being a spy, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pre-OT3, after thanos, mention of anxiety attack, mention of body issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 16:56:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15823098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisydashwood/pseuds/daisydashwood
Summary: Prompt:Imagine A and B arguing over who loves C more, while C just stands there delighted/mortified.Bonus if it’s in public.Bonus if it ends with them agreeing to share C.From imagineyourot3 on tumblr.Loki/Stephen Strange/Tony Stark





	Sharing is Caring

Tony Stark was a genius, so he could tell something was going on with both Loki and Stephen Strange. They had both been acting weird since the defeat of Thanos. Since then, they had consistently been very kind to him in particular. They were always getting him coffee when he ran out, bringing food to him in the lab, sitting with him and explaining magic, and attending special events with Tony. They had actually attended the things that were super important to him, like Peter’s science fair and math team competitions, as well as galas and events held by Stark Industries that were more important for the company. It was getting weird. If only he knew how weird it was going to get.

The team continues battling against the supervillain of the week, when one pops up. For the most part, though, life after Thanos is pleasantly relaxing. With sparring and training becoming more of a way to pass the time, the Avengers finally begin to heal in all the ways they haven’t been able to in a very long time. Tony has been seeing a therapist since Afghanistan and the incident with Obadiah, but he has continued going to learn how to cope with all of the issues created by the Mad Titan. When he’s approached by the others seeking a way to help ease their troubled minds, he recommends several great options for therapy. The first of the Avengers to actually follow through, however, is Loki. 

He listens to Tony talk about how much therapy has assisted him. He’s heard about the sleepless nights and nightmares that still plague Tony’s mind, but it’s obvious that he has become stronger and more capable of dealing with his issues. Loki wants that for himself. So after going to therapy for weeks, he finally breaks down and tells the mortal all about his “father”, his adoption, his true heritage, his attempted genocide, and his patricide. It is no shock that Tony finds him working himself into a panic on the floor of the common room after that particular visit.

 

Crouching beside Loki and trying to be as soothing as possible, Tony clears his throat lightly to alert Loki to his nearby presence. “Hey, Bambi. You okay?” A pause breaks his speech before Tony huffs out a quiet and derisive chuckle. “Actually, I think I can guess the answer. That was a stupid question. You’ve obviously had a rough time today, but I need you to focus on me for right now, Lokes, okay?”

Loki nods in the pause that comes after this question, just a quick jerk of the head and nothing more. It’s all the answer Tony needs, though. “Okay, Bambi. I want you to listen to my voice and do as I say, okay?” Another short nod and Tony continues, “Think of something that you love or really like. Get a clear picture of this thing or place or person in your head.”  
Tony gives Loki a moment to think about it before continuing after another quick nod from the demigod on his floor. “That’s good. Now think about this thing. Focus on it completely. You don’t need to answer my next questions out loud or anything, but just think about the answers. Focus on the answers to the question so that you can make the picture in your head even more clear.” Pausing for a breath and another nod, he continues, “Now, what does this thing smell like? Does it smell clean and fresh? Does it smell different or strange? Does it make noise? If it does, then what does it sound like? Does it move a certain way? Slowly or quickly, in circles or paths? What color is it? What does it taste like? Sweet or Salty?”

Tony stops with that question as Loki finally looks up at him for the first time since he stepped off the elevator. “Hey, there you are, Bambi. You okay?”

Loki takes several deep breaths and begins to calm even more. “Better.”

Tony smiles, “That’s it, Bambi. Just take some more nice deep breaths. Let your brain calm down a bit. Give your body a chance to rest.”

Loki continues breathing deeply and feels his body slowly relax bit by bit. Tony stays with him the entire time. Talking to him about nothing in particular, mostly about the bots and Peter. It’s calming him down more with each passing second. “I’m feeling much better now, Stark.”

Tony smiles at the interruption of his meaningless chatter. He’s truly glad to see Loki back to a mostly normal state now. “Great, Bambi. I’m glad.”

Loki smiles at the genius in front of him softly. “Thank you for your help, Anthony.”

“Anthony,” the genius questions. “Of all the things you could choose to call me and you decide on Anthony? Really, Lokes, I thought you were more creative than that.”

There’s a full and genuine smile on Tony’s lips as he teases Loki, and all Loki can do at first is smile back at the beautiful man in front of him. “I figured it would annoy you most. Trickster and God of Mischief, remember?” At Tony’s answering smirk, Loki laughs like he hasn’t laughed in ages.

“Okay, Harry Potter, I get it. ‘I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.’” Tony smiles brightly and lightly chuckles at seeing Loki laugh like this. The god is definitely looking much better now than he was earlier, and Tony is glad that he could help him. “Now, unlike some of you slackers in the tower,” his teasing words are directed at the still smiling chaos god, “I actually work a job and have to go take care of some things. Are you okay for me to leave you by yourself? Or would you like me to call someone else to come stay with you for a bit?”

Loki smiles at the man that he is beginning to gain feelings for before replying softly, “I’m fine, Anthony. Go finish your work. I think I shall head to the library for now.”  
With those words, they both rise and head in their separate directions. Loki makes it to the library, procures a book, and sits down to begin reading. He doesn’t make it very far into the novel before he suddenly realises something. When Tony had been helping him with his anxiety attack, he had asked a question at the very end that had managed to shock the god out of the last dredges of panic. Had Loki not been struggling to regain control of himself, he could have answered that question by simply leaning forward and kissing the object of his thoughts thoroughly. 

Unbeknownst to Loki, Stephen Strange was also taking advantage of Tony’s library and heard him utter one simple sentence. “I’ve fallen in love with that damned genius.”

 

Over a week later, Stephen had observed Loki around everyone in the tower and discovered that the “damned genius” was none other than Tony Stark, the man Strange himself had been pining for since the first battle on Titan. This was going to be difficult, based on the interactions had between trickster and genius. 

“Honestly, I should just back down now and try to move on. Tony will never see me as anything more than a friend or another brain to pick when it comes to magic. Loki could easily replace my position in his life. He knows far more about magic than I do, and he could care for Tony better than I can now.” Strange looked down at his slightly disfigured hands, ashamed of himself for believing that he could ever capture the heart of a man as amazing as Tony Stark.

Overhearing every word that Strange said, Bucky decided to act. Tony deserved some happiness in life. If anyone could give him that happiness, it would be the sarcastic sorcerer. “Hey, Strange? If you love him enough to let him go, then you need to act on that love before it’s too late. Don’t disappear on him without him knowing that you love him.”

Stephen snapped to attention at Bucky’s words. Looking in his direction, Stephen noticed the look of someone who regretted something very similar to the situation at hand. “I’ll think about it.”

 

Stephen walks into the lab unannounced to see if Tony wants to learn more about magic. He sees Tony bent over a work table focusing on something small, a circuit board more than likely.

“Hey, Tony. You want to go over anymore magic today?” Strange isn’t hopeful for a positive answer, especially now that he sees Tony is in the middle of another project.

“I actually can’t right now. I promised Pepper I would spend some time today working out the kinks in this new design from R&D.” Tony looks up and sees a flash of sadness cross Stephen’s face. He can’t let the man believe he is unwanted. “You’re more than welcome to hang around, though. I could use the company.”

Stephen’s smile is near instantaneous and absolutely blinding. “I would be more than happy to keep you company.”

As Stephen sits, Tony smiles and returns to his work. He definitely must have a type. Tall, dark haired, pale skinned, brooding magicians were definitely his thing, if recent preferences were anything to go by. Time passes by quickly with some chatting had between the two men. Before Tony knows it, his work is finished and he realizes that Stephen hasn’t spoken up in quite a bit. He turns in his chair to look at the other man, only to notice him focusing on his hands. The look on Stephen’s face tells Tony everything he needs to know. He moves beside the sorcerer and grabs the hand nearest to him. 

“You know, I wasn’t able to look at my chest for nearly a year after Afghanistan. Some days, I still can’t stand to see all of the scar tissue.” Tony feels Stephen squeeze his hand and so he continues, “It’s okay to not be okay all of the time. You’ve been through a lot. Hell, we’ve all been through a lot. But look at where we are now. We’re all alive, and we all have each other. You’re past mistakes and injuries don’t define who you are. You do that for yourself.”

Stephen smiles sadly at him. “I used to work with small things. Arteries, veins, ligaments, nerves, all of it. I miss it some days. It was nice and peaceful. It was what I enjoyed. I can’t do it anymore. I’ll never be able to do it again.”

Tony squeezes his hand again gently before moving to clean up his work table. “I know it sounds cruel, but I’m glad it happened. I likely would have never met you. You’re a great friend, Stephen, and I’m glad that I got a chance to have that friendship.”

Stephen’s eyes widen slightly in shock before he smiles gently. How could this one man be so perfect in every way that mattered? “Thank you, Tony. You have no idea how much that means to me.” 

With that, Stephen leaves the room. He makes his way to the common area and begins to pace back and forth in one of the lesser used rooms. He cared a great deal for Tony, as well, but he knew his feelings went far deeper than mere friendship. He had admitted to himself that he loved Tony, accidentally letting Bucky in on the secret a few days before. He had finally made up his mind after today, though. He was going to try and win Tony’s love before the god of mischief managed to do so.

 

Weeks pass by and things just become even more odd around the tower. The whole team at this point has noticed the pissing match between Loki and Stephen over a completely oblivious Tony. Natasha has already taken bets on who will talk to Tony first, who Tony will choose, and when someone will finally blurt out how they’re feeling. Each day that goes by only ruins the hopes of more and more Avengers as their bets are lost. Then, it finally happens. They both finally announce they’re feelings, at a press conference after facing the villain of the week, no less.

Both Loki and Stephen are upset by the days events and worry for Tony is pushing both of them near the breaking point. After Tony had been thrown into three buildings consecutively, both men just wanted to make sure that their love was alright. The fight has ended, but any hopes of heading back to the tower to check on Tony are quickly dashed when several reporters ask to have a conference with the Avengers about the villain that decided to make Manhattan his personal playground. They are quickly lined up, Stephen and Loki both separated from Tony by other team members. Exasperated, both men start moving closer to Tony. Natasha watches on in amusement, knowing this press conference is about to go to hell if the resident magic users have any say about it. 

Loki reaches Tony at the same time as Stephen and begins questioning his love. “Anthony are you alright? You’re not injured are you? I can heal you immediately, unlike this subpar children’s magician here.”

Stephen is absolutely furious. “I can heal him just fine, as well! I probably can heal him better than you! I’m a doctor after all!”

Loki scoffs, “Please. Take your parlor tricks somewhere else and allow me to take care fo the man I’m in love with now.”

Stephen sees red. “Or you could just leave and allow me to take care of the man I love!”

“I love him more, you ignorant fool!”

“No, I love him more, you idiotic diva!”

On and on they go, back and forth at each other for what feels like forever to everyone involved. Until they suddenly stop. Tony has grabbed a hand from each man and is holding them tightly.

“You love me? You both really love me?” Tony’s question is soft, meant only for the two men in front of him.

Both sorcerers suddenly realize what they had been shouting back and forth. Their mouths snap closed in unison, both staring down at their entwined hands. “Yes,” they both whisper in complete unison before glancing at each other. This is it. Tony is about to pick one of them or neither of them. Loki and Stephen both know that this moment could break either one of their hearts. If only there was a way for both of them to have Tony at the same time.

The idea hits Loki like a Mjolnir to the head, but Tony is beginning to speak. He looks at Strange, communicating the idea through a simple mind link spell. With both in agreement, they turn to look at Tony who is currently prattling on about how he couldn’t choose between the two of them.

“You don’t have to choose between us, darling,” Loki begins.

“We’re going to share you, love,” Stephen finishes. 

Stephen and Loki both move to embrace Tony and end up embracing each other, as well. They share a glance at each other, both thinking the same thing. This just might be exactly what we all need.

 

Needless to say, all three of them are a bit angry when they find out about the bets. None of them are surprised to discover that Natasha one, though. They find their own ways to work together and get the team back for their prying and spying. Once order has finally been restored in the tower, they settle into the beginnings of domestic bliss. Each day becomes better than the day before as all three of them learn how to share and love each other even more.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work in this fandom. Feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments. Let me know if you like it or if there is anything I need to change. Non-beta'd, so beware for mistakes and errors. Please leave kudos if you enjoyed. I've got a few more one-shots in the works and will be posting shortly if this is well-received. Thanks so much for reading!


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